Task Force on Police Accountability: New Cover for the Mayor
From: Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Activists announce plans to continue campaign for Community Control of the Police
December 10 delegation of victims to file complaints with U.S. Justice Department
The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression will hold a press conference Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. outside the Mayor’s Office in City Hall, to condemn the appointment of the Mayoral Task Force on Police Accountability.
The Task Force is designed to address the challenges to the administration resulting from the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video. The Alliance points out that three of the five members of the task force are former prosecutors, a group with a long established preference for the police. A fourth member is a former deputy superintendent of the CPD.
Frank Chapman, Field Organizer for the Alliance, said, “There is no doubt in our minds that the failed attempt to cover up the murder of Laquan McDonald has precipitated a political crisis in our city that is making it increasingly difficult for the powers that be to continue to rule in the old way.”
Although Emanuel has fired his Superintendent of Police, Garry McCarthy, Chapman continued, “So far there has been a total absence of accountability. The only strand of the people’s movement clearly and unequivocally addressing this reality has been the campaign for an all elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), a campaign organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and its allies.”
In this most recent crisis, everyone, from the Mayor to the Attorney General to candidates running to replace State’s Attorney Alvarez, is calling for accountability. Chapman explained, “This gives the very false impression that we are all talking about the same thing.”
The ordinance creating CPAC takes the power of appointment out of the hands of the Mayor and puts it in the hands of the people. CPAC will also replace the Independent Police Review Authority, the Police Board and the Internal Affairs Department, empowering the people to hire and fire, investigate and initiate prosecution against police.
The Alliance will be joined by a representative of the Chicago Teachers Union which voted Wednesday night to endorse the CPAC legislation.
On Thursday, December 10th, dozens of torture victims, their families, and the families of murder victims, together with the Alliance, are filing formal complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Stop Police Crimes Campaign
www.StopPoliceCrimes.com
